He was now in a state of anxious perplexity. It would be possible to hide somewhere and wait for a more opportune moment, but he hated to lose time and it was a risk in itself. No doubt the old man knew every nook and corner in Clanhammer Hall, and his hiding place, wherever he might find one, would not serve him at all. It was while he was puzzling over his problem that he thought of the third floor and a possible escape along the roof.
There must be a third floor of some sort in the building and he turned his attention to finding stairs. After a time he located a door in the rear of the hall and when he had opened it a flight of abrupt steps was disclosed to him. He listened for a moment before ascending, not wishing to walk straight into someone on the third floor, but there was no sound from above, and after closing the door carefully behind him he began to climb, listening intently. He gained the top of the boxed-in flight and looked around him.
He was in a general hall which ran the length of the building and from which doors opened on either side. It occurred to him that when Clanhammer Hall was the main and only building of Woodcrest School some of the students boarded at the school and some of them down in the town. The first floor must of necessity have been given over to the dining room, kitchen and offices, the second floor to the classrooms and this third floor to the few dormitory rooms which the old school boasted. There were at least twenty small rooms opening off the hall in which he stood, and it was in these rooms that the few fortunate students lived. No doubt the seniors or third class men slept there and the lower class men were compelled to put up at friendly boardinghouses near by. The doors were warped and initial-scarred, and faint yellow numbers still showed on them.
At each end of the hall two windows allowed light to enter, and they were the only openings with the exception of a rusted skylight directly overhead. He walked to the windows facing the new buildings of the school and looked out, to find that no shed or roof was underneath. Nothing but a sheer drop was before him, and help from that source was out of the question. There was a new possibility which entered his head as he looked out on Clinton Hall and a corner of Locke. If the worst came to pass he would try to signal to some of the cadets, none of whom seemed to be around at the present moment. Glancing at his watch Don saw that it was yet too early for them to be stirring, and no signals were likely to be seen for some time.
He then made his way to the windows at the opposite end, stopping at the stairs to listen, but no sound broke the stillness and he went on. Those two windows overlooked a portion of the lake and the gate at the end of the school grounds and the deserted edges of the woods. There would be no help in that direction, either.
“Looks like I’d have to set the place on fire to get out,” he grumbled. “Now I’ll look into some of these old dormitories.”
He began to try the knobs on the doors but to his disappointment every door was tightly locked. This puzzled him. All of the rooms on the second floor were unlocked and open, but these rooms had been carefully closed up. He felt sure that there was nothing in them, and why anyone should be particular enough to lock them he could not see. He had tried them all and in haste, so that one feature of a certain room escaped his attention. In the center of the hall was one room which, judging by the distance between doors, was larger than others, and this door, he subsequently discovered, was locked with a special lock on the outside.
The other and smaller rooms had been locked with a key in the ordinary manner, but the large dormitory room had been fitted with a padlock on the outside and was locked in that manner. He stopped and looked through the keyhole, but his vision was limited to a blank wall on the other side of the room. Then he sniffed, his attention growing as he did so. After a time he realized someone in that room was smoking tobacco. He could smell it plainly.
His first impulse was to flee and then he stopped to consider, his gaze fixed on the lock. Whoever was in that room was a prisoner. It was plain that the padlock was meant for business. He tried it, pulling at it with all his strength, but it was tightly locked and his efforts were useless. Bending down, he once more examined it, and then, satisfied that he could remove it with his knife, began to work at it.
There was a sudden movement in the room as he started to work, but Don paid no attention, and as no one spoke he did not waste his time in speech. The lock itself was screwed into the door, and the screws were so placed that his knife blade, blunted by much use, formed a screw driver that was effective. He did not have any unusual difficulty and the screws came out readily enough under his urging. With patience and speed he extracted four of the screws and the lock hung open, the portion on the post being freed. Hoping that the lock under the knob had not also been turned Don tried the door handle. To his relief it turned and the door opened.
Pushing it open wide before him Don stepped into the large dormitory.
Don stepped into the room, his eyes and nerves alert for whatever emergency which might arise. He found himself facing a short and slightly stout man, who was standing beside an easy chair, a newspaper in his hand and a curved pipe in his mouth. The pipe seemed to have gone out and the man was staring toward Don intently.
The room was furnished with a bed, a table upon which rested a few books, and a large armchair. An iron stove took up one corner of the room, and a fire had been lighted and was crackling in it. Two small high windows gave light in the room, and the windows had been heavily barred. Don took in the room in a sweeping glance and looked once more at the man.
An expression of mingled relief and anxiety was on the man’s face and he stepped forward, dropping his paper.
“Who are you, boy?” he asked, his voice slightly hoarse. “What are you doing here?”
“Are—are you Colonel Morrell?” gasped Don, a flash of inspiration sweeping over him.
“Yes!” replied the man, eagerly. “Have you come to rescue me at last? Is the story out?”
“I’m sorry to say that I may not be able to help you much, colonel,” returned Don, closing the door behind him. He looked searchingly at the colonel, the subject of so much thought and conjecture for the last two months. “I’m a prisoner here myself, and I just escaped from a room on the second floor. I guess I stumbled on their game and they took me in, too.”
“Just the same, I’m very glad to see you,” cried the colonel, seizing his hands. “What is your name, my boy?”
“Don Mercer, sir. I’m a fourth class man, and we’ve been greatly concerned about your absence at the school. Have you been right here all along, Colonel Morrell?”
“Every bit of the time,” nodded the stout colonel. “Clever piece of business, wasn’t it, that of hiding me where no one would have thought of looking for me?”
“It certainly was,” Don agreed. “Shall we try and make a dash for it, Colonel Morrell?”
But the colonel shook his head, running his hand through his thick gray hair. “I’m afraid it is no use, my boy. That old man’s never left alone, and we would waste time by trying it. Let’s think up a better plan. Have you had anything to eat?”
“No,” said Don.
The colonel hurried to the center table and opened a drawer, from which he took a sandwich wrapped in paper. “Here is a sandwich that was left over from my supper,” he said, handing it to Don. “Sit down here and eat it while I talk to you.”
Don sat down in the arm chair and gratefully ate the sandwich. The colonel seated himself on the arm of the chair.
“Of course all you boys wondered what had become of me,” he began. “I’ll tell you the whole story. Some years ago I was in business with Major Tireson and a man named Morton Dennings. I never cared for Dennings, who was a close friend of the major’s, but we got along fairly well and things went smoothly. We all bought shares in some mines in the west in those early days, but they turned out to be worthless and I filed my papers away. I didn’t think anything more about them until this summer, when Major Tireson called on me and asked me to sell him my share in the mine.
“As I had thought the mine absolutely worthless I naturally wanted to know why he was so anxious to buy, and he told me that he and his partner wanted to hold the land for future speculation. I knew that there was some flaw in the story somewhere and refused to sell to him, although he did get pretty warm about it. I determined to have the place looked up and reported upon, but I let the summer slip by without attending to it, and so I lost a valuable opportunity.
“I had wired Tireson the date of my arrival here and he put his plans together well, the scoundrel! I was just about to board a train at my home town when a messenger boy ran up to me and gave me a brief note. It was from Tireson, asking me to stop off at Spotville Point and see this man Dennings, who lives there. So I dropped off the train at that town and went up to the home of Morton Dennings. He entertained me all evening, and just before I was ready to go to bed late in the night I heard an automobile drive alongside the house. Dennings and two men promptly seized me and told me that I would be kept a prisoner until I turned over my share in the mine to Tireson and himself. I told him that I would be a prisoner forever before I would do that. They took me out of the house and to my surprise brought me here, where I found these quarters fitted up for me.”
“And you have been here, right under our noses, while detectives have hunted for you all over the country!” said Don.
“Oh, yes, that was the point of their idea. No one would think of looking for me right at my own school. Tireson has been here time after time, trying to make me reveal the hiding place of my papers, but he hasn’t arrived any place yet. He isn’t going to, either. But they are both getting tired of the game, and I’m afraid they are planning some new move with me.”
“But what can they do?” inquired Don, anxiously. “They can’t turn you loose and they can’t keep you a prisoner forever.”
“No,” said the colonel, getting up and pacing the floor. “But there is always violence and the possibility of dragging me off on some ship and dropping me in some Far Eastern port!”
“They won’t dare resort to violence!” flashed Don.
The colonel shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know what they will do. Remember, they are pretty deep in this thing right now. To allow me to get loose and tell a few things would ruin them both. They can’t afford to mince matters.”
“I must get out of here somehow and get help,” cried Don.
“We’ll see about that,” returned the colonel, returning to his seat on the arm of the chair. He dropped one arm around Don’s shoulder. “Let me hear how you came to be mixed up in this business, Mercer.”
Don related everything from the beginning and the colonel was an interested listener. He was able to explain something that had puzzled the boys.
“Dennings didn’t come here himself, as a regular thing,” he said. “He made the old farmhouse his headquarters and waited there for news. I guess one of the men used a mirror to flash his ‘No progress.’ There never was any progress. Major Tireson has pleaded and coaxed and threatened, and he finally did admit that the mine had turned out to be one of the best of its kind and that he and his partner were determined to get my share of it. That time we had the fire was when the cook, the old man, left a lid off the stove and a curtain brushed over it. I thought something might come of that, but they had someone watching me all the time and I couldn’t make any signals.”
“Was there no way of signalling out of that window?” asked Don, nodding to one of the two in the room.
“They are all too high,” answered the colonel. “I would have tried if—Listen!”
Footsteps were heard on the floor below and then a shrill whistle rang out. Someone shouted something. The colonel jumped up.
“They have discovered that you are gone!” he cried. “I must hide you at once, and I have just the place. I’m sure these fellows don’t know of it, and I’ll risk it. Come here.”
He led the way to the other side of the room to where a dusty map hung. Brushing this to one side he disclosed the opening of a ventilator with a black iron frame. He thrust his fingers into the openings in the frame and pulled the iron work out.
“Here,” gasped the colonel. “Get into that hole. It doesn’t go very far, but it will hold you all right. Don’t make a sound.”
The opening was large enough for Don to get his body into, an awkward job, as he went in backward. The passage of what had once been an air-shaft extended back for a distance of about seven feet, and he lay flat on his stomach, finding plenty of room in the shaft. The colonel replaced the grating, dropped the map into place and hurried back to the center of the room, where he picked up his paper and sat down, pretending to read.
The noise downstairs continued and in a few minutes someone could be heard running up the stairs. A shout was raised outside the colonel’s door.
“The boy is in with the colonel!” Dan’s voice shouted.
Others ran up the stairs and the old man, Dan and Major Tireson rushed into the room. The colonel jumped to his feet, the picture of alarm as he faced his captors.
“What’s the matter?” he cried. “Are you going to hurt me, Tireson?”
“I’m not going to touch you,” shouted the major, in disgust. “We want that boy. Where is he?”
“What boy?” asked the colonel, blankly.
“You know very well what boy!” snorted the major. “We found the lock on your door open when we came in, and we know he is in here!”
“Oh, I see!” cried the colonel, as though a light had suddenly appeared to him.
“What do you see?” snapped Tireson, halted by the colonel’s tone.
“Somebody was working at my lock up until the time you started to run around and yell downstairs,” related the colonel. “I thought it was one of you trying to get the padlock unlocked so I didn’t pay any attention. Who was this boy you are talking about? What is he doing here? Why——”
“Never mind all that,” Major Tireson cut him short. “Dan, go out in the hall and see if you can find that boy. He must not get out of the place!”
The major then made a thorough inspection of the room, even going so far as to hastily brush aside the map, but did not find Don and he began to believe seriously that the boy had not entered the colonel’s room. The old man had hurried out of the room and the major was now alone with Colonel Morrell.
“Look here, Elmer,” said the major, sharply. “I’m going to give you one last chance to speak up and tell us where your papers are. You have until tomorrow night. If you haven’t spoken by then you will have to suffer the consequences. Dennings is more than tired of your stubbornness, and we won’t stand for any more of it. You will be moved tomorrow night, so you had better come across with the papers before then, or you will probably go for a long sea voyage.”
“Going to kidnap me and take me for a sail, eh?” inquired the colonel.
“As far as kidnapping is concerned I think that has happened already. I can’t help it about the sea voyage. You must realize that we can’t let you loose and if you won’t talk you can take what is coming to you.”
“You’ll suffer for this, you scoundrel!” roared the colonel.
“Maybe,” the major shrugged. “We will if you ever get loose, and we are going to see that you don’t. There is only one sensible thing to do, Morrell, and you know what that is.”
“You’ll never get those papers,” affirmed the headmaster.
“Then you may take what is coming to you, you stubborn old idiot!” shouted the major, leaving the room. He closed the door after him and turned a key in the lock. His footsteps were heard going down the stairs a few minutes later.
When the colonel thought that it was safe he let Don out of the ventilator and brushed him off. The cadet’s uniform was covered with dust from the shaft.
“Too bad that shaft was ever boarded up,” remarked Don.
“Yes, but it was. Well, you heard what our friend the major said. I am to be carted off tomorrow night and bundled to sea.”
“I heard it all right,” said Don. “We must find out some way to prevent it. But if we can’t do that I might lie in the ventilator, find out where they are taking you, and as soon as they are gone. I can probably get help before you have been carried very far.”
“That is true,” agreed the colonel. “That may be the best thing to do. I presume we had better be ready to hide you at a moment’s notice. You can share my food with me today and at night we’ll sleep together. The bed is wide enough for both of us. We’ll play the game of hide and seek tomorrow and when they come to take me away at night you can carry out your plan.”
Twice again through the day Don was forced to take to the ventilator and hide, once when food was brought to the colonel and once when the major paid a visit to the room. It was evident that Tireson was worried, and the colonel asked if the boy had been found. The major refused to answer but it was evident from his manner that he had not been. Finding all in order in the room the major retired, and late in the afternoon the padlock was repaired and snapped in place.
Don and the colonel spent a contented day, during which they became well acquainted. Don told his superior of the events of the past three months and the colonel talked to him of a variety of subjects. When night came on the colonel lighted a lamp he had and they talked again.
“No one will be here again,” observed the colonel. “We’ll turn in soon and get some sleep. I’m a very light sleeper and if anyone comes to the door I’ll hustle you into the ventilator. Lucky thing they gave us a lot of food.”
The colonel explained that the men generally gave him enough food for three meals and left him alone until the following day. Then the colonel brought out a checker board and some checkers and he and Don had some good games. The colonel won them all and was in high spirits.
“Well, I guess we had better turn in,” the headmaster decided, after he had won the fourth game. He swept the checkers toward him.
Then both of them started and turned. The padlock opened with a snap, and before they could move the door was flung open.
The three boys had scoured the entire lake front without obtaining any clues as to the whereabouts of the missing cadet. On the way back a sudden thought occurred to Terry.
“Look here,” said the red-headed boy. “Don was seen to be going in the direction of the boathouse. Perhaps he took out a boat. Hadn’t we better go back there and find out?”
“That’s a good idea,” Rhodes agreed. “I don’t see why he would take a boat ride, but we had better look into it.”
When they arrived at the boathouse they found the keeper of the boats there. Jim asked him if Don had come to him the day before to request the use of a boat.
“No, he didn’t,” answered Ryan, the keeper. “I wasn’t around the boathouse until late in the afternoon. But one of the boats is gone. The one that was in that rack.”
He pointed to the empty rack and went on: “When I got down here yesterday I noticed that boat was gone and I looked around the lake for it. It wasn’t until this morning that I heard Mr. Mercer was missing, and even then I didn’t think that he might have crossed the lake in my boat.”
“I suppose it is useless to think of crossing the lake and making a search in the dark?” Jim advanced.
Rhodes looked out of the boathouse window. “I’m very much afraid that it would be out of the question,” he answered gravely. “It is growing quite dark and it has begun to snow again. But in the morning we’ll ask for permission to cross the lake and search the woods and that old farmhouse over there.”
“That’s so!” exclaimed Terry. “I never thought of that old place. Perhaps it has something to do with the whole thing.”
“It’s possible,” agreed Jim. “What if Major Tireson will not give us permission to skip classes in the morning?”
“If he doesn’t,” said Rhodes, grimly, “we’ll just wire your father to come down here and take charge of things. Then I think he won’t refuse your request.”
Jim chafed against the falling darkness and the snow which had begun to fall. The snow itself would not hold up his search, but the darkness delayed everything in a way that was maddening. There was nothing left to do, however, but to wait until another day.
At supper time Cadet Vench signalled him to wait for him after the meal, and when it was all over the little cadet walked to his room with him. Rhodes was in the room talking with Terry as they went in.
“What did you want to see me about?” asked Jim.
“I wanted to see all of you,” Vench replied. “Look here, Rhodes, can you sleep in Don’s bed tonight?”
“Here, in this room?” asked Rhodes, astonished.
“Yes. I want you three to sleep together tonight and to be right where I can get ahold of you. You don’t need to ask permission to do it. Just wait until the Officer of the Day passes by on his rounds and then come in here, with your clothes. You can get out early in the morning. I want you all together, because I may have some work for you all before morning.”
“What is up, Vench?” inquired Terry.
“Well, I’m not even certain enough to tell you what I have in mind,” confessed the little cadet. “I think I have run across a valuable tip and I’m going to look it up alone. Not because I want to be selfish or anything like that, but it will mean some cold and dangerous work, and as it may be a wild goose chase I want to saddle no one but myself with it. You’ll sleep here tonight, won’t you, Rhodes?”
“Why, yes, I’ll do it,” nodded the cadet captain. “I suppose you must have some very good reason for asking it and I’ll try to help out.”
“Thanks,” said Vench.
“Has all this business got anything to do with Don?” asked Jim, eagerly.
“I think that it has, but I’m not dead sure. As I told you, I received a valuable tip and I want to work on it. Now, we must arrange some kind of a signal. I may be out most of the night, and I want to signal you fellows to join me outside. If I do I don’t want to have to come back inside the building to get you.”
“You may be outside most of the night!” cried Rhodes. “You’ll freeze, Vench.”
“I may be too active to freeze,” grinned the cadet. “Has anyone of you fellows got a long cord?”
“I have a ball of string in my trunk,” Terry offered.
“Fine. Let’s have it.”
Terry procured the ball of string and handed it to Vench. The little cadet looked from one to the other.
“Which of you is the lightest sleeper?” he asked.
“I’m a fairly light sleeper,” said Rhodes.
“All right.” Vench tied the string to the end of Don’s bed and then hid the ball under the mattress. “Now, as soon as the Officer of the Day has made his inspection you drop that ball of cord out of the window and let it hang there. If I want you guys during the night I’ll yank that cord and wake you up by shaking the bed. If I don’t pull it at all during the night pull it up again in the morning. Is that understood?”
“Yes,” the boys nodded, completely mystified.
“All right. Now, if I do pull the cord, you three fellows dress and slip out of the side door and join me there. Is all that clear?”
“Almost,” laughed Terry. “Be a sport, Vench, and tell us what is up?”
“Nothing doing,” Vench returned, firmly. “This may all be a false alarm, and if it is I don’t intend that anyone but myself shall pay the penalty for it.”
“But if it has anything to do with Don we ought to have some hand in it,” urged Jim.
“If it turns out as I expect and Don is concerned in it, you will have a hand, maybe both hands in it,” countered Vench. “Now, I must get back to my room. Don’t forget to drop that string out of the window, and whatever you do don’t keep on sleeping if I pull it. So long.”
“So long,” they returned, and Rhodes added, “And good luck to you in whatever it is you are doing.”
Vench went out of the room, chuckling at Rhodes’ parting shot. Terry looked at his companions.
“Mr. Vench is getting very mysterious!” he said.
“He certainly doesn’t mean to bother anyone else with his ideas,” commented Rhodes.
Mr. Vench returned to his own room and picked up a book. After a few moments he put it down and turned to his roommate, who was studying at the same table.
“I want you to help me out,” he said. “After the Officer of the Day comes around I’m going out of the building on some very special business, something which may keep me out all night. I’ll tell you what it is when it is all over. What I want you to do is simply not to worry your head if I seem to be a bit unusual in my movements tonight.”
“All right,” agreed his roommate in some astonishment.
Before long the warning bell sounded and Vench and his roommate undressed and got into bed. The Officer of the Day visited the room and made his inspection. Then the lights went out and the dormitory became still. In another fifteen minutes the footsteps of the Officer of the Day sounded on his return trip. And when Vench was sure that the temporary officer had gone to bed he got up quietly and dressed.
His roommate heard him but made no comment, and Vench finished his dressing and put on his overcoat. Very carefully he opened the door and looked out into the hall. It was totally deserted and the little cadet left his room and walked quietly down the corridor, down the stairs, and soundlessly let himself out into the cold night. He had no hat on, but Vench was used to going without one and did not mind in the least.
He stood for an instant in the gloom of the building and looked out over the campus. Clinton Hall was the last of the dormitories and he was in no danger of being seen from Locke, where the major had his rooms. The night was cloudy and quite dark, with occasional flurries of snow. The air was slightly damp and very cold. Vench thrust his hands into his pockets and looked from right to left.
A short distance before him, directly across the campus, was a fringe of trees and snow-covered bushes behind which lay Clanhammer Hall. It was to this thicket that Vench now directed his attention, and he made his way toward it, keeping as much as possible in the shadows. It was a lucky thing, he reflected, that it was not a moonlight night, for that would have made his already difficult job more dangerous, since he was compelled to cross open ground to gain the woods just before the old hall. To be seen by anyone as he flitted across the snowy campus would have seriously hindered his objective, and he was more than thankful for the obscurity of the stormy night.
He gained the fringe of trees and undergrowth and concealed himself in it. Right in front of him, and at a distance of forty yards, was the main door of Clanhammer Hall. There was no light in the place and the dirty windows stared at him like dead eyes.
Vench looked at his watch and saw that it was barely a quarter after ten. “I’ve got three-quarters of an hour yet,” he murmured. “Hope it shows up on time.”
Fifteen minutes dragged by and Vench grew cold. He moved his arms back and forth to keep up the circulation of his blood, being careful to keep from making any noise while doing so. There was plenty of space in the thicket in which to walk up and down and he began to do so, wearing a path in the snow. This helped him to keep warm and made the time pass a little more quickly. When he looked at his watch it was a quarter of eleven.
And at that moment there was a step on the snow close by. Quick as lightning Vench crouched down behind the nearest bush and looked out. The major was coming up the driveway toward the old school, muffled in his overcoat, his head sunk forward in his collar. It was evident that he had no fear of detection, for he glanced neither to the right nor to the left, but walked confidently up to the door, inserted a key in the lock and opened the barrier. He went in and closed it back of him.
There was no light in the place and no light showed after the major closed the door. It was evident that the major was very familiar with the place, and after watching for at least ten minutes Vench straightened out and once more began his pacing. But a few minutes later he stopped and listened eagerly.
The soft chug of a car was approaching, and in a short time it drew nearer until it was in sight. It had approached by way of the east gate and stood just outside the hall and across from Vench. It was a long black car.
A driver sat at the wheel, a short fat man who looked to be quite old, although there was not much to be seen of him, for he was bundled up in a huge fur coat that made him shapeless, and a fur cap was on his head. As soon as the car had come to a halt he leaned over the wheel and appeared to go to sleep. The door of the car opened and two men got out. Both of them were plainly dressed and looked to be ordinary businessmen. They closed the door of the car, and just before the door shut Vench could see that there was no one else in it.
One of the men opened the front door of the car and shook the driver. “Wake up, Garry,” he said, impatiently. “We’re going inside. As soon as we come down you be ready to go. Get me?”
“All right,” growled the driver, and slumped over the wheel again.
The two men made their way up the steps and entered the building. The major had evidently expected them and had left the door open. When they had gone inside there was no sound, and the man on the wheel did not move.
Vench considered, his pulses pounding rapidly as a sudden thought struck him. Things were working out as he had planned, but he was now considering something which had not occurred to him before. Swiftly he shed his overcoat, dropped it in the bushes, and rubbed his hands together.
Then, his eyes concentrated on the figure over the wheel, Cadet Vench moved swiftly. From the back of the car, his footsteps noiseless in the light snow, he drew nearer to the unheeding driver. Then, with a single bound Cadet Vench leaped to the car and threw himself upon the man at the wheel.
The man was taken completely by surprise and for a second he offered no resistance. In that precious second Vench slipped one hand over his mouth and kept it there. That left him just one hand to fight with, but it was vital that he keep the man from crying out, so he kept his hand glued to the mouth of the driver. For a brief second the man was motionless with surprise and fear, and then he began to struggle furiously.
Vench gripped his throat determinedly, realizing that the struggle must not take much time. He drew the man toward him as he saw that he intended to blow the horn and bring the men in Clanhammer Hall to the spot. The driver fell from the seat and they both rolled to the ground, Vench’s hand still clenched over his mouth. With the other he still choked the man.
The struggle did not take long in actual time but it seemed to Vench that it did. The man was old and stout, not in any kind of physical condition, and he was handicapped by the heavy coat which he wore. Vench felt his struggles grow weaker and weaker, and at last they stopped altogether. When the cadet felt that it was safe he released his hold on the man’s throat but not on his mouth. The man lay still and Vench was satisfied that he was unconscious.
Then Vench released his hold on his mouth and looked around him. The snow was badly kicked up where they had struggled, but there were no other signs. He stripped the big fur coat and the cap from the man’s person and then pulled off his belt. With this he secured the driver’s hands behind his back and then considered.
“I can’t leave him here to freeze in the bushes,” Vench reflected. “But where will I put him?” Then it flashed over him that there was a tool house not far away, the door of which was always unlocked, and he determined to take the man there. But when he tried to lift him he found it a task beyond his strength.
“Nothing left but to drag him,” decided the cadet, and he took the man by the feet and started. Finding this inconvenient he placed his hands beneath the man’s shoulders and dragged him through the thicket and over the campus to the tool house. The door was open and he tumbled the man in.
The driver had regained consciousness but contented himself with groaning. Knowing that if his hands were left tied they might become frost bitten Vench took off the belt and went out, dropping a wooden bar across the holders as he did so. He knew that the man might work his way out, but it would take him several hours to do so.
Then Vench sped back to the car before Clanhammer Hall. No one had come out yet and his way was clear. He put on the fur coat and the cap, slumped down in them and hung over the wheel, waiting for the next move in the game that he had decided to play.
When Don and the colonel swung around in consternation at the sound of the door opening they faced Major Tireson and the old man. There was a look of triumph on the face of the major, and the old man, standing just back of him with a candle in his hand had a slight smile on his otherwise expressionless face.
“So!” cried the major, as they jumped to their feet. “You two are together, it seems.”
The colonel recovered his presence of mind instantly. “Why, yes, we do seem to be together,” he remarked.
“And that boy was with you all day, eh?” questioned the major. “Where did you hide him?”
“I don’t remember, major,” said the colonel. “That happened this morning, and I can’t remember that far back.”
The major’s face darkened. “Trying to be funny, aren’t you, Elmer? It won’t do you any good. We knew that this boy did not get out of the building, and my keeper suspected that you had him with you. He crept up here and heard you talking, and then he told me just now that you were together. But you won’t be for long!”
“No, I suppose not,” the colonel retorted, bitterly.
The major strode up to Don. “I’ve had a lot of trouble with you, young man,” he snarled. “But I’m not going to have any more. Just as soon as we get through with the colonel we’ll take care of you.”
“Just as you please,” returned Don. “But I warn you that it will go hard with you if I once get away.”
“You won’t get away,” assured the major. He turned to the colonel. “You are going away, colonel.”
“Humph,” snorted the colonel. “I thought it was to be tomorrow night.”
“You are going tonight,” the major said. “We’ve had enough out of you, and we don’t propose to take any more. If you feel like telling us where those papers are on the way, all well and good, but if you don’t you’ll start on a long trip.”
“I prefer travelling to talking,” the colonel retorted briefly.
At that moment there came the sound of steps on the stairs and as the major and the old man did not turn with any degree of surprise the colonel and Don knew that enemies and not friends were approaching. This proved to be the case when two men entered the room and nodded to the major.
“Is the car here?” asked the major.
“Yes,” said one man. “It is waiting at the door. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, he is ready,” nodded the major, pointing toward Morrell. “Take him down, and if he makes any noise just put him to sleep. We can’t afford to have anything happen now.”
“What about the boy?” asked the second man.
“We’ll leave him here for the time being. I haven’t decided yet what disposition will be made of him, but I’ll figure that out later. In the meantime, take the colonel to the place I told you about, and when I give you further orders he is to be taken out of the country.”
“All right, chief,” answered the first man, and he took the colonel by the arm. His companion took the colonel’s other arm.
“Goodbye, Mercer,” said the colonel. “We’ll get the best of these scoundrels yet.”
“I’m sure of it, colonel,” returned Don. “Take good care of yourself, sir.”
“You two have become very friendly in a short time, haven’t you?” sneered the major.
“Well, that’s bound to happen, major,” said Morrell slowly. “When two men get together they feel some sort of natural ties. Some day, if you ever become a man, you’ll know what I mean!”
The major raised his fist in a threatening attitude and Don sprang forward to the colonel’s defense. But the man who held the colonel’s right arm interposed.
“Here, cut that out! If you want to get this man away tonight, you had better start and fight later.”
Grumbling to himself the major left the room, followed by the colonel and his guards. Last of all went the old man, casting over his shoulder at Don a triumphant grin. Then he locked the door and Don was left alone, standing in the center of the floor in the circle of lamp light.
“They certainly put one over on us that time,” he muttered. “I never heard them come up the stairs. Now I wonder what the major will try and do with me?”
In the meantime the colonel was escorted down the stairs to the front door, where the big car stood in the drive, with the driver apparently asleep over the wheel. The door of the car was opened and the colonel was thrust inside, the men watching him closely to see that he did not raise any outcry. When he had been safely installed the major walked around to speak to the driver.
The man at the wheel had awakened and was now sitting and staring straight ahead, more than ever sunk in the fur of his coat and hat, his face in the shadows. He did not bother to turn when the major approached him.
“Drive with your lights off when you go out of here, Garry,” he said. “When they get the colonel at Denning’s place, you put your car up and go home. Do you understand?”
“Right!” growled the driver, his face in the fur.
The major walked back to the car door and spoke to the men inside. The driver looked right and left and then straight ahead. The door was slammed and the major stepped away from the car.
“Go ahead,” he commanded, in a low voice.
Vench reached down, released the brake and started the engine. He backed the car around in the driveway and sent it out of the school yard in low speed, keeping his lights low. It was not until he had rolled out onto the main highway that he switched them on again and picked up speed.
Inwardly, he thanked his lucky stars even while he wondered. He was glad that he had run with the hares on that day, and that he had run with his partner through Spotville Point. The other boys had told him of Dennings and his home at Spotville Point, and Vench knew that this place was to be his destination. He did not know where the house itself was but he did know where the town was. The location of the house would come later.
But what puzzled the cadet was the man who had come out of Clanhammer Hall. Vench had fully expected to see Don brought out, and the sight of the portly colonel astonished him. He quickly arrived at the correct answer, although he had no means of knowing how the colonel had come to be in Clanhammer Hall or why he was being taken away.